Naan is a leavened bread, that is one of the most popular Indian breads atleast in the Indian restaurants overseas. It is fluffy, soft, crispy on the edges, has a slight sour tinge due to the yeast in the bread, and makes for the perfect vehicle for any kind of Indian curry.
Naan is usually made in clay tandoors that give the naan it’s crispiness and charred edges, contributing to it’s flavor profile. I have provided a method that will help with the charness of the naan, and make it as close to restaurant quality as possible.
History of Naan
Naan’s history is a story of royal luxury evolving into a global staple over more than 2,000 years. The word “naan” comes from the Persian word for bread (nân), and the flatbread itself likely originated in ancient Persia or the Middle East before spreading to the Indian subcontinent through trade and conquest (courtesy of Wikipedia).
There is a lot of commonality between Persian cuisine and Indian cuisine due to the geographical closeness, and that they share similarities primarily due to centuries of trade, cultural exchange, and the profound influence of the Mughal Empire (1500s-1600s), which introduced Persian cooking techniques, ingredients, and terminology to India. Key shared elements include a reliance on rice-based dishes (biryani/polow), kebabs, yogurt, and aromatic spices like saffron and cardamom.
Ingredients of the Butter Garlic Naan
The ingredients of the Butter Garlic Naan are:
- Warm water
- Granulated sugar
- Active dry yeast
- All purpose flour
- Salt
- Whole milk
- Greek yogurt
- Garlic
- Water
- Vegetable oil: the bowl for dough to rest
- Extra all purpose flour : to roll out the dough
- Kalonji seeds or onion seeds
Garnish
- Unsalted butter
- Garlic
- Cilantro
- Maldon sea salt
How to make the Butter Garlic Naan
The Butter Garlic Naan starts off by making the dough. Active dry yeast is activated in warm water, along with sugar, that feeds the yeast. The water has to be the right temperature of 110 degrees, should be somewhere between warm and hot but not scalding hot. Else it will kill the yeast.
There will be foam developing on the top that tells you that the yeast is alive. Also be sure to check the date on the yeast envelope as well. I use the Fleischmann’s Active Dry Yeast for all my baking needs. One envelope is enough for the naan quantity in the recipe.
The recipe is very easy. Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl. You can knead with your bare hands, or if you want to use a KitchenAid stand mixer, you can do that as well. My preference is always to use my bare hands to make the dough. I find it highly therapeutic, massaging that dough with my own hands, and it gives a sense of calmness in a weird sort of way.
I have used half and half of whole wheat flour and all purpose flour, if you do not want to use all of the all purpose flour as well, and it works fantastic.
Store the smooth dough in an oiled bowl, and cover for about 2 hours, until it doubles in size. The dough is divided into 8 balls and rolled and smoothened out, and again allowed to rise for a bit before it can be rolled into those gorgeous, charred beauties.
Because the dough is made with all purpose flour, it will retract when rolling out the dough on a smooth surface. Keep rolling it and thinning it out as much as possible. It does not have to be a perfect round shape. Add onion seeds or kalonji seeds on the top and roll on top of it, so that the seeds sort of adhere to the naan.
Remove the rolled naan and place it top side down onto your palm, and using a pastry brush, brush the bottom side with water. This helps with evaporation once it hits the hot griddle, or pan, and sticks to the pan to create the air pockets due to the yeast in the naan.
If you have a gas stove, using tongs, invert the naan directly onto the flame to create that charred effect on the edge and charred spots all over the naan. I love that look and the flavor it gives to the final product.
If you do not have a gas stove, invert the naan onto the pan and char it on the pan. Either way it works well.
Once the naan is cooked all the way through, brush it with another pastry brush, with that garlicky buttery goodness, that has cilantro in it too. Top with some Maldon sea salt for a final touch.
Use these naans fresh to scoop up some gorgeous curries, channa, rajma, or whatever you prefer it with!
What if I do not have active dry yeast?
There are recipes that use baking powder/baking soda instead of active dry yeast to make Butter Garlic Naan. I have not tried this method though.
Can I use whole wheat flour instead of all purpose flour?
I have used half and half of whole wheat flour and all purpose flour, if you do not want to use all of the all purpose flour as well, and it works fantastic. I have not tried the recipe with all of the whole wheat flour.
Where can I find Maldon sea salt?
You can find Maldon sea salt at Costco at a good price, or you can get it from Amazon as well.
Where can I find kalonji seeds or onion seeds?
You can find kalonji seeds or onion seeds at Amazon or any Indian store.
Recipes that can be used with the Butter Garlic Naan
- Tofu Matar
- Paneer and Aloo Kofta in Saag Curry
- Corn and Shishito Pepper in Corn Curry
- Baigan Bharta Herby Dip with Naan Chips
If you make this recipe, please tag #thejamlab on Instagram and/or leave a comment on this post.
XO
Amisha
Butter Garlic Naan
Ingredients
Naan
- 1/3 cup (79 gms) warm water(temperature of 105 degrees F)
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 envelope (7 gms) active dry yeast
- 4 cups (540 gms) all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 3/4 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup extra water
- Extra vegetable oil the bowl for dough to rest
- Extra all purpose flour to roll out the dough
- 2 tablespoons kalonji seeds or onion seeds
Garlic Butter
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 8 to 10 cloves of garlic, grated
- 1/3 cup finely chopped cilantro
- 1 teaspoon of table salt
- Maldon sea salt
- 2 pastry brushes
Get Recipe Ingredients
Method
- In a small bowl, stir together the warm water, sugar and yeast. Let it sit for 10 minutes. It should be foamy by then. If the yeast is not foamy, your yeast is not good and you should start with another batch of yeast.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Add the milk, yogurt, garlic and yeast mixture.Mix the dough with both hands to bring it together into a dough. Add extra water,one tablespoon at a time if desired to mix well. On a floured board, knead the dough for about 10 minutes, until it is smooth in texture.Oil the same mixing bowl, add the dough, cover with a tea towel or plastic wrap and let it rest for 2 hours. It needs to be in a warm place at about 80 degrees F. I keep it in the oven with the oven light on. Let the dough rise until doubled in size.
Making the garlic butter
- In a small saucepan, on medium heat, add the butter. Once melted and sizzling, about 20-30 seconds, add the grated garlic, cilantro and salt and mix to combine. Set aside.
Making the Naans
- On a lightly floured board, knead the dough for 3 to 4 minutes to develop elasticity from the gluten. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces and roll them into balls. Place on parchment paper and cover with a tea towel for 20 minutes.
- Heat a flat griddle/non-stick skillet or cast iron skillet on the stove on medium high heat. Sprinkle some flour on the board. Remove one ball of dough, keeping the others covered. Starting from the center, roll out the ball of dough into an oval-roundish shape about 8 inches long and 5 to 6 inches wide from the center.
- Sprinkle about ¼ tsp onion seeds on top. Use the rolling pin to press them lightly onto the dough. Turn the topping side of the naan onto your palm and gently brush water with the pastry brush on the back side of the naan.
- Lay the water side down onto the griddle and let it puff up undisturbed for upto 2 minutes. Lightly press on the top side for it to puff up. You will see air pockets form on the surface.
- If you have a gas stove, use tongs and flip the naan, placing it directly onto the gas burner. Cook for 10 seconds to char the edges and the top side. Rotate it on the burner to cook different parts of the naan for another 10-15 seconds more.
- If you do not have a gas stove, use tongs to flip the naan to the other side and cook on the griddle for another 30 seconds or so, to char the top.
- Lightly brush the top side of the naan with melted garlic butter.Sprinkle with Maldon sea salt.
- Repeat the same with all the naans, and they are ready to eat!
Notes
PRO TIPS:
- If the water temperature is more than 110 degrees, it will kill the yeast, so make sure that you do not use hot water to activate the yeast.
- To ensure your yeast is alive, make sure that it activates, when it is mixed with the warm water and the sugar. The yeast will start foaming and the water will be foamy after 10 minutes.
- If the dough does not rise, and become double, either the place where it was kept is not warm enough, and you need to leave it for a longer time, OR the yeast was not good and did not activate.
- The naan can be stored in the fridge, wrapped in aluminum foil for upto a week.
What if I do not have active dry yeast?
- There are recipes that use baking powder/baking soda instead of active dry yeast to make Butter Garlic Naan. I have not tried this method though.
Can I use whole wheat flour instead of all purpose flour?
- I have used half and half of whole wheat flour and all purpose flour, if you do not want to use all of the all purpose flour as well, and it works fantastic. I have not tried the recipe with all of the whole wheat flour.
Where can I find Maldon sea salt?
- You can find Maldon sea salt at Costco at a good price, or you can get it from Amazon as well.
Where can I find kalonji seeds or onion seeds?
- You can find kalonji seeds or onion seeds at Amazon or any Indian store.
